Steveston's Starbucks sparkles on the Web

Are there Stevestonites out there who haven’t set foot in the Starbucks shop on No.1 Road?

I may be biased but I think it may well be one of the prettiest watering holes in a world awash with this brand of liquid gold.

And I am not alone.

Winter, a young man from Houston, made a personal commitment to visit every Starbucks on our planet just for the sake of doing something that’s never been done before. I suppose that’s as good a motive as any, don’t you?

Since 1997, Winter has travelled the globe, facing difficulties and joys unique to the itinerant life. So far, he has covered 8532 US/Canada stores and 1406 international stores which include UK, Japan, France, Spain, Mexico, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Puerto Rico, Ireland, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Greece, Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Czech Republic, Portugal, Chile. To view his photos and read his comments, visit him at www.starbuckseverywhere.net.

If you’re like me, you would immediately navigate to the section devoted to our corner of the world. You'll see that Winter had captured the Steveston Starbucks in a breathtaking early morning shot, just as the seagulls circled overhead and the crows screeched from the treetops, no doubt. He immortalized that moment on November 25, 2006 - just eight months after the store opened its door - and his heartwarming comment framed what he saw though the viewfinder to perfection.

But, instead of tell you, why don't I just show you!

Welcome, Veggie King Market

I don’t know about you but I couldn’t wait for this store to open its door.

A food desert is defined as an area with little or no access to foods deemed essential to a healthy diet. With the new greengrocer at the corner of Moncton and No.1 Road, Steveston can reclaim its title as a food oasis. A deep green, ruby red, blazing orange, and earthy brown oasis.

In addition to the fruit and vegetable corner at Super Grocer & Pharmacy, we can now feast on nature's bounty at the Veggie King Market, the newest kid on the block!

Finally, the big void Seacoast Produce left behind has been filled. Would you believe that years after they shut down their operation, I still miss their organic chips, exotic condiments on those splintery wooden shelves, the tub of jiggly fresh tofu swimming in its water bath, and a community-size bowl of stir fry vegetables that spared me hours of cutting, slicing, dicing, chopping, and julienning.

I don't know if the Veggie King Market will ever have ready-to-go stir fry vegetables, but for now, I am just happy that I can walk - not drive - down the street to pick up my apples and bananas.

Thank you, Steveston!

On this blog, I wish to thank strangers that I have not met.

A week before Easter, I had a flash of brilliance - something that occurs less and less frequently these days.

I added bunnies, eggs, a baby chick, spring flowers and greens to my Steveston Museum image and posted a holiday greeting for my fellow villagers on this blog.

To spread even more cheer, I decided to blow the image onto a letter size colouring page and provided free copies for the neighbourhood kids. The good staff at Steveston Community Centre agreed to post them on the community bulletin board but I didn’t really expect many takers - especially since these pages went up just five days before Easter Sunday.



But I was wrong. They were all taken. I was delighted!

Your kind response provided the inspiration for my next project - a Mother's Day special for all Steveston kids - whether they are five or sixty five.

If you drop by the Steveston Community Centre between now and May 9th, you will find the Steveston Mother’s Day postcards hanging from the bulletin board or sitting in a clear plastic box directly across from the gym. These postcards depict a local favourite – the Prickly Pear – complete with Lucy (or is it Ruby?) sitting in the window.



Please feel free to take one, write your own personal message, slap a stamp on the corner, and send it to your mother, grandmother, or any other person who has given you lots of loving care over the years.

If you run out of time for the snail mail, you can always slip it into mom's bouquet of flowers, or her box of chocolates, or the pages of her new best seller. However you wish to use it, I hope it will bring joy to your mom's heart.

Have fun preparing for the celebration ahead and thank you for your support!

Steveston robots

Copyright 2010 D Gittins

Robot: "A machine that looks like a human being and performs various complex acts (as walking or talking) of a human being", or a "device that automatically performs complicated often repetitive tasks", or a "mechanism guided by automatic controls". (Merriam-Webster)

What pops in your head when you hear the word “robot?”

(1) A highly sophisticated humanoid with complex brain circuitry and infallible sense of logic as portrayed in Alex Proyas’ “I Robot?”


Sonny, an independent thinking and human-like robot

(2) An endearing figure that rolls around the house completing domestic chores with efficiency and speed, like Rosie the robot maid in Hanna-Barbera’s The Jetsons?


The beloved housekeeper with her signature frilly apron and feather duster

(3) An intimidating machine of superior endurance and strength bent on human destruction and annihilation like James Cameron’s “The Terminator?”


Arnold Schwarzenegger as an unstoppable cyborg assassin sent back to the year 2029 to exterminate the future resistance leader who would save the human race from extinction.

Now I would like to introduce you to a more benign and utterly charming set of robots. You can call them Steveston robots because they are the brainchild of my daughter, who participated in fundraising drive to benefit Haiti's earthquake victims. As part of the requirements, D had to submit between eight to ten works of art and she chose “robot” as her theme. Here are some of what she came up with:


Copyright 2010 D Gittins


Copyright 2010 D Gittins

The One World Art Show & Fundraiser was held at Science World on May 1, 2010 between 7:30 PM and 1:00 AM. Sixty artists from the lower mainland, Vancouver Island, and Milwaukee contributed their time and efforts. Guests could meet the artists, view and purchase their creations, took part in an amazing silent auction while sipping drinks and enjoying live entertainment. D's robots were there to do their fair share in this worthy cause.

Go Steveston robots, go!